In May, I was offered a position as an indigenous reporter for paNow.com, part of the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group. Since June, I've been writing for our website and doing radio pieces pertaining to First Nations, Metis, and environmental issues.
As a member of the Penticton Indian Band, I have paid close attention to First Nations issues over the years. As a First Nations / indigenous person I have always felt we have never had a true voice in the media. Things are changing now, but there is still a long way to go in my opinion.
I'm doing what I can in northern Saskatchewan to contribute to positive change by listening and trying to make connections with the people I talk to.
Moving to Prince Albert, Saskatchewan has put me back in a part of the country I love, and where I have a lot of roots. The 306 will always have a special place in my heart and I'm incredibly happy to be back in a new part of the province, meeting new people and learning about the different cultures our province has to offer.
This post will feature some of the best stories I've worked on over the last five months as a reporter, along with a few interesting shots I've taken.
Beardy's and Okemasis councillor Kevin Seesequasis presented Chief and Council with an idea of hosting a two spirit parade in their community, which was widely accepted. As one of the first openly gay councillors in Canada, hosting a parade / pride event was very important to Seesequasis.
The event was an overwhelming success. A huge procession marched between the Beardy's gas station to the band office where various speakers spoke of their challenges growing up as an LGBTQ or two spirited individual in post-residential school Canada.
Beardy's and Okemasis First Nation councillor Kevin Seeseequasis during the First Nation's inaugural pride parade on June 9, 2016. Photo credit Bryan Eneas
The residential school era is a dark and shadowy history in Canada. The effects of the schools have left a profound impact on this area of the country. The Prince Albert Indian Residential School was one of the last to close in Canada. First opening in 1948, thousands of students were educated in the buildings that are now the Prince Albert Grand Council.
Three people decided to organize a walk between the former school and their home community of Stanley Mission, Saskatchewan (about 490 km North of Prince Albert). The walk was designed to start or move along the healing process.
Tom Roberts, a former CBC Radio personality and now a residential school support worker helped organize the event. We had many interesting conversations leading up to this walk; as an "intergenerational" residential school survivor, being able to cover this walk from start to finish meant a great deal to me.
While I didn't walk with the group, I made trips to La Ronge, and then Stanley Mission to see how they were doing. After four days on the road, they made it to La Ronge. Donnie Roberts, pictured below, walked all four days, going a total of 106 kilometers of the 240 between Prince Albert and La Ronge.
Roberts survived the residential schools but he was walking for his best friend, who commit suicide while the pair were in residence together.
Donnie Roberts, in La Ronge. June 26, 2016.
A few in the group ended their journey in La Ronge. Many continued to their home of Stanley Mission.
Stanley Mission used to be a fly-in community. Many of the survivors who walked this far were forced to stay at school 10 months of the year, which for some, created a disconnect between culture, family, and community. Returning home by their own means was a big deal for some of the survivors.
This was my first time visiting this beautiful community. The people were so welcoming to my presence. Tom Roberts took me on a small tour of the cultural grounds, a small island which the people traditionally inhabited pre-colonization. I was shown a large rock face hunters used to shoot arrows at before hunting season. The story was, the higher your arrow went on the face, the more successful hunts you would have. It was quite an honour to see these grounds and learn the story behind them.
I put together a video of the walkers entering Stanley Mission. It was a powerful feeling to be a part of the group as they went through a major step in their healing processes. The link below takes you to the article which was published at the end of the journey.
2016 was my true introduction to Powwow, and I fell in love. I've been producing a number of articles for a series I've started called On The Powwow Trail.
This was my third article in the series, which I could honestly write for the rest of my life.
The Whitefish Jr's were on of the first drum groups I found on Youtube while exploring powwow singing. Harvey Dreaver's voice is mesmerizing and unlike any other I have heard live or over the internet. After learning the Whitefish Jr's were going to be host drum for the weekend made the opportunity too hard to pass up.
It was an incredible honour to sit down with "the man of 5000 songs" as he was dubbed by the powwow MC. He had only just recently fully recovered from an illness and rejoined his champion drum group. Hearing them drum together live was an experience I will never forget.
Harvey Dreaver, at the Witcheken Lake powwow. July 21, 2016.
In my first adventure to Stanley Mission I got to see the oldest structure in Saskatchewan. Erected in 1856 after four years of construction, the church has undergone many facelifts.
I got to sit down with curator and historian Joe Roberts to talk about the building and what's in the works for the church.
The graveyard around the building has headstones dating back to 1850. These headstones are the oldest recorded written history of Stanley Mission according to Joe. Everything which predates the headstone is oral history.
The church was declared a national historic site in 1982.
The Holy Trinity Anglican Church resides on the Stanley Mission cultural grounds. The graveyard in the church has some of the oldest recorded history in Saskatchewan on its grounds. July, 2016.
The Husky Oil Spill
Easily some of the most important writing I will probably ever do in my career.
In late July, a Husky Energy pipeline running underneath the North Saskatchewan River burst, leaking at least 200,000 litres of oil into the river, according to Husky. (I don't buy it, they retracted a statement saying the pipe had burst 14 hours earlier than it really did after being grilled by almost every Saskatchewan news agency via a press conference)
This spill has turned into a saga to say the least. I have spent a lot of time writing about the spill. Prince Albert was placed under a water advisory for most of the summer as our intake just happens to be in the North Saskatchewan River; the oil floated right past our treatment plant. We ran two separate pipelines to different water sources to supply our city of 40,000.
Grand Chief Bobby Cameron, from the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, surveys the now polluted North Saskatchewan River. July 25, 2016.
A month after the oil plum drifted through our city, oil was found on the banks of the South Saskatchewan River, in James Smith Cree Nation territory. People along the South Saskatchewan River were promised the oil wouldn't cross into their river where the North and South Saskatchewan meet, but it did.
Chief Wally Burns from the James Smith Cree Nation had taken proactive steps to set up oil booms along the river, but he could only do so much. He had pulled $17,000 from a community fund which was meant for a water pump to purchase the booms. Chief and Council had been taking independent water and sediment samples for testing to find out what exactly was in their river.
I spent a morning walking the shores of the South Saskatchewan River with Chief Wally Burns. He told me one of his favourite things to do as a youth was to swim across the river, and to look for crawfish along the banks of the river. Sadly now, the only crawfish we were finding were dead, or in terrible shape. There were no birds or wildlife around the river bank. Things were deadly quiet.
Chief Wally Burns overlooks the South Saskatchewan River. He single handedly set up this oil boom, one of six set up along the Cree Nation's lands. August 25, 2016.
This is where it gets interesting.
After meeting with Husky officials, the community was told "wait until Monday" for any official comment. From that point forward, the James Smith Cree Nation has been told the oil could have come from a car in the river, the oil could have come from machinery working near the river, it might not even be oil, and a wide variety of excuses from all forms of government, and Husky Energy.
After another month, Husky finally deployed oil sniffing dogs to the Cree Nation. The dogs were trained to identify Husky oil, and had been used near the origin of the spill to track down oil on the shores. Those dogs found oil on the banks, in piles of driftwood, and all around the South Saskatchewan River in James Smith Cree Nation lands.
Pepper, one of two oil sniffing dogs used on James Smith Cree Nation traditional lands to locate Husky Energy oil. September 29, 2016.
One month later, I made a phone call out to the band office in James Smith to see what's new. I was thoroughly disappointed to find out discussions have hardly happened since my last visit to the Cree Nation.
After discovering oil on the banks, Husky's clean up team removed small pieces of driftwood or riverbank affected by oil. They left behind 27 large piles of driftwood that was unsafe to removed, and deemed the clean up "complete" and decided (without the Cree Nation's input) the remaining oil was to be left. The decision was made because the remaining oil would be "cleaned up naturally."
To my knowledge, discussions between the Cree Nation and Husky Energy have not taken place in over a month. 27 piles of oil covered driftwood still remain on the river banks. I will be continuing to follow this story as it plays out in the next few months and even years.
Imagine not knowing what happened to your grandmother, mother, aunt, daughter, or grand-daughter. Unfortunately that is the story for hundreds, if not thousands of indigenous families across Canada.
I've been looking into some of the murdered and missing indigenous women in Northern Saskatchewan. It's meant some rather depressing days in the newsroom, reading old articles, sifting through forums and speaking with families, but it's important work. These women never received true justice, so I'm doing what I can to make their stories known.
The niece of Mryna Montgrand, Myrna Laprise has taken over the search for her aunt who went missing in the 1970's. I can't even imagine what her family has gone through. Read the article above to learn more about both Myrna's.
If you know anything about the disapperance of Myrna Montgrand, please contact the RCMP Historical Crimes division in Saskatoon.
Howard Walker, in my mind, is the voice of Powwow. The man has spent almost 50 years announcing powwows all across the country. He speaks seven different indigenous languages, and English. His voice is so memorable, and I have learned a lot listening to him speak.
It was an honour speaking with him in Mistawasis, and picking his brain about why he does what he does. He may be slowing down, but he still plans on doing what he does until he can't anymore.
Howard Walker, and his granddaughter at the Mistawasis Traditional Powwow, August 28, 2016.
After reading a confusing press release from the Council of Canadians, I was given some contact information to put me in touch with Sylvia McAdam Saysewahum, one of the co-founders of Idle No More.
Sylvia had been camped out on her traditional lands, trying to defend them from clearcutting. She had inherited the lands, and the fight to protect them, from her father. Various logging companies had slowly been working their way towards her traditional lands, and she was afraid the clearcutting would decimate them.
She wasn't wrong.
We spent an afternoon together, walking her lands and talking about the struggles of being a land protector in a cowboy province. She is passionate about her lands and her fight. I have learned a lot from our discussion on her lands. I feel her fight is an important one, and even though many of her trees have been taken, she still stands strong on her lands. I have a great respect for what she does.
Sylvia McAdam Saysewahum, on her traditional lands after the clearcutting started. This photo has since appeared on Indian Country Today Media Network, uncredited but it was exciting to see it show up elsewhere. August, 2016.
I first met Burton Bird when I visited Montreal Lake for the second time. We met outside the band office, when my out of province licence plates caught his attention. After finding out he was mostly deaf, I was amazed to learn he was also a hoop dancer.
This intrigued me, and we spent a number of months trying to align our schedules so I could see him dance, and we could do an interview. Things finally clicked during the Prince Albert Grand Council's culture festival!
Through his translator, I learned so much about Burt and the work he does advocating for deaf youth in Northern Saskatchewan. Burt has overcome many barriers to be where he is today, and he is one of the most cheerful and positive people I have met so far. He is quite active on Facebook, and he is currently in Standing Rock (I'm super jealous!) supporting the water protectors and their fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Burt Bird, a hoop dancer from the Montreal Lake Cree Nation. Bird was born almost entirely deaf; he uses the vibrations of the drum to time out his dances. September, 2016.
For almost 40 years the NORTEP-NORPAC programs have provided Northern Saskatchewan residents with educational services to provide the north with trained professionals in a variety of careers.
Now, in it's infinite wisdom, the SaskParty has decided to pull 3.7 million in funding from the program. Come July 2017, the program will no longer exist as NORTEP-NORPAC.
This is a story I was given by one of the students, and has since made waves around the province. It's really neat to break stories and see them travel south in Saskatchewan.
After chatting with the NDP's advanced education critic, I was given a document which showed the SaskParty had given the program a glowing review.
For the students and faculty of NORTEP-NORPAC, I sincerely hope the government reverses their decision.
One of the final pages of the NORTEP-NORPAC study conducted by the SaskParty. The NDP's advanced education critic Warren Mcall passed this along to me to show the public. They had obtained this report through an Access to Information Act request. To read more about the report, check this link here.
Prince Albert's Northern Lights Casino competition Powwow has a unique component, the Spotlight Special.
Dancing for a whack of cash, men's fancy bustle dancers compete in a tournament style dance off with the lights turned off in the arena. The drama made for photographic gold, and amazing written content.
Patrick Mitsuing won this year's Spotlight Special. He was dancing in part for his father, who had passed away earlier this year. October, 2016.
Patrick Mitsuing, during the Spotlight Special. Mitsuing thanked his family for making the regalia he was wearing. October, 2016.
There is no doubt about it, northern Saskatchewan has been hurting through October. Six young girls under the age of 15 have tragically taken their own lives. I can't even begin to express how badly this hurts me as a human being.
Our provincial government continues to fail our northern residents with essential services. Chief Tammy Cook-Searson is looking for long term solutions to the problems within the Lac La Ronge Indian Band's mental health problems.
Writing about suicides all through October has been troublesome and weighed me down a little. It was uplifting to hear how Chief Tammy is looking into this issue. I'm glad leaders in the north are being proactive to end this crisis.
Chief Tammy Cook-Searson of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band speaks to journalists from across the province at the Reconciliation and the Media Conference I attended in early October. It was an honour to meet my peers in indigenous reporting, and I'm glad I was invited to attend.
The community of La Ronge came together in a show of support directed at the youth in the community. Over 250 people turned out two nights after the fourth young person in the community took her own life. November, 2016.
These are a few of the stories I have written over the last five months which I feel are important. If you want to read more of my work, please bookmark this link which will take you to my author page.
I've learned lots in the short time in the field. Each and every person I've spoken with has taught me something. I look forward to continuing my work in Prince Albert, and in Northern Saskatchewan. A few big stories are in the works, and I've got a lot of ideas to pitch for stories. We'll see what the next little while has in store for me in the journalism world!
Watch around the end of the year for my Sweet 16 for 2016, which will be a collection of 16 photos I've made this year which I really like! Until then, thank you for reading, and following my work folks!
-- Bryan
